Traumatic Past Fuels Work of South African Artist Blessing Ngobeni

Darren Taylor

Published September 13, 2013

An artist in South Africa is transcending his traumatic past to create some of the country’s most talked-about paintings. Critics are comparing Blessing Ngobeni’s work to that of world famous Spanish artist, Joan Miro. Like Miro’s, Ngobeni’s works are intensely surrealistic. But the South African’s paintings are often more overtly political than the Spaniard’s ever were…and just as controversial.